Wiggly Kids Relax

Thoughts percolating in the distant background seem not your own. Stillness and spaciousness pervade. Rose-colored calm creates a soft focus on the world. The big dogs of worries and “to dos” barking at your heals on the way into class are now tame puppies waiting patiently by the door. You are lying in savasana (final rest) at the end of your yoga class and you feel fine. As the lights come back up and the outside world sharpens into focus, you remember that you have children in your life, perhaps your own. The spaciousness in your heart naturally extends to them and you wonder how to share this experience. It’s a lovely sentiment, but will the kids you know be able to get still and quiet enough to experience this bliss?

Yes! Children love to relax. Even the wiggly ones roll up after savasana and say they feel ”gooood.” Relaxation is the single most requested practice in my children’s yoga classes. “Can we do that sleep part?” kids ask as they bound into the room. “Will you give us noodle legs?” This an effective technique for kids because they have been told that they need to be still to get “noodle legs”–and they love noodle legs. Kids are encouraged to let their limbs become soft and limp, like cooked noodles. Just to be sure, I pick up their legs and jiggle them. They lie still in anticipation, give a little giggle as their legs are jiggled and then soften.

Children, like many adults, have little conscious awareness of tension being held in the body and mind and few skills to cope with it. Also, the concept of a formal relaxation practice can seem foreign. Response to this unfamiliar territory can manifest as disruptive behavior, silly comments, noises and general wriggliness.

It may take several sessions before some kids have a sense of what relaxation is about. With repeated practice, they learn the routine and develop greater awareness. Once they have been guided to that same spacious sense of ease you know from your yoga classes, they will keep asking for more.

Yoga addresses three aspects of relaxation–body, breath and mind. The first step is to squeeze, then release all the major muscle groups. Imagine something super-sour that puckers up the whole body. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze…and release. This wrings out physical tension. Then, the breath is regulated. Simply counting to four on each inhale and each exhale can help slow and deepen the breath. Placing a stuffed animal on a child’s belly can facilitate awareness of deep abdominal breathing. This signals the nervous system to trigger the “rest-and-digest” response. Children can also count each cycle of inhale and exhale backwards from 10 to 0. Regulating the breath both occupies and relaxes the mind, which in turn relaxes the body.

The mind has a profound influence on the body. This is the third and perhaps most important aspect of relaxing. I tell the children in nearly every class, “Your mind is very powerful. Use it to tell your body to relax.” This is called autosuggestion. They are prompted to say to themselves “My toes and feet are relaxed, my toes and feet are relaxed. “ I guide them in this way up through their body from the periphery to the center, from bottom to top. Another nice way to help the mind relax is to use guided imagery. The kinds of thoughts we entertain have a big impact on our state of being. Think warm sand versus icy rain. I may tell the children a “relaxing story” about a day at the beach or perhaps a journey on their very own magic carpet woven especially for them of all their favorite colors. Space is left for silence before bringing them back to the busyness of the day.

“Time for relaxation,” I say to 6- to 12-year-old students in a yoga class. “Yessss,” hiss two boys as if they have just scored a goal. The younger of these two used to sit against the wall with his arms folded over his chest during final rest. Now he doesn’t hesitate to settle in to savasana. The older one can easily articulate the feeling it gives him. Afterward he reports, “I feel more calm, relaxed, feel more in a better mood, I feel good, happy, a little sleepy and more aware of my body.” Often I will ask the children how they feel at the end of class. Here’s what they have shared.

“I felt like a bed and a little tired and sleepy warm. I also felt like wool.” Age nine

“I saw a flower. It was different. I felt like I was at the beach watching the sunset. It made me feel like I will do better at school. I feel like I have a best friend.” Age seven

“It felt really relaxing and it was comfortable. I felt tired. I was thinking all the things that I do with my mom and dad. I felt happy. I felt proud of myself.”
Age seven

Last week, one nine-year-old girl whispered that she felt, “…like a blooming rose.”

Mira Binzen has a degree in child psychology and is a certified Yoga and iRest® Yoga Nidra teacher, yoga therapist, and co-founder of Global Family Yoga (globalfamilyyoga.com), a teacher-training program based in Chicago, focusing on children and families. She offers wellness consults for families by phone and Skype. Her e-mail address is mira@globalfamilyyoga.com.